It's Australia's game to lose but there's still a lot to play for

Andy Lloyd is a former England Test cricketer who has also served as captain and chairman of Warwickshire.

Andy Lloyd

SOMETIMES in Test match cricket you just have to hold your hand up and applaud your opponents when it just isn&rsquo;t your day.<br /><br />Ricky Ponting showed just why he is regarded as one of the best batsmen of the modern era with a tremendous innings, backed up by a patient knock from Simon Katich. England didn&rsquo;t bowl badly &ndash; it was brilliant batting and hats off to the Australians.<br /><br />But Test match cricket is about five days and an awful lot can change in that time.<br /><br />Cast your minds back to when England were skittled out for 51 by the West Indies in Jamaica back in February. Yes, maybe that may be a bit extreme, but it does emphasise how a good half an hour spell can turn a game on its head.<br /><br />What England need now is a moment of magic, a stroke of genius, to instil a renewed belief in the side and limit the almost inevitable Australian lead to as few runs as possible. England failed to generate the kind of swing with their ball as the Australians did, but with a new ball due early today, that may change and bring the likes of James Anderson into the reckoning.<br /><br />Until that happens, however, captain Andrew Strauss will be hoping his two spinners can produce that special something on an ever-deteriorating pitch.&nbsp;